Safety device for refrigerators



March 25, 1958, H. RITZENBERG 2,827,863

SAFETY DEVICE FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Aug. 32, 1955 INVENTOR HYMA'NRITZENBERG ATTORNEY SAFETY DEVICE FOR REFRIGERATORS Hyman Ritzenberg,Arlington, Va. 7 Application August 22, 1955, Serial No. 529,727 2Claims. (Cl. 109-635) This invention relates to an attachment forrefrigerators to be used as a safety device for preventing the door fromclosing when the regfrigerator has been discarded or is temporarily outof service.

Old refrigerators which are abandoned seem particularly attractive tosmall children as a place to play, the children many times entering therefrigerator and having the door shut have sometimes been smothered. Foreven a small child to enter the refrigerators the shelves must beremoved. By attaching a safety device to the refrigerator which isnormally held inactive and which would become active with the removal ofthe shelves so as to prevent the complete closing of the door, thesetragedies would be avoided. The present invention seeks to provide aninexpensive bolt which may be attached to refrigerators now in use orbuilt into new refrigerators which will move into a position to preventthe complete closing of the refrigerator door should the shelves beremoved.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple inexpensivemeans of rendering unused refrigerators safe for small children to playaround.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensivebolt which will automatically move into position to prevent the closingof the refrigerator door.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a safetydevice which may be built into new refrigerators or may be attached torefrigerators already in use so that when the refrigerators arediscarded and/or the shelves removed either by the user or by the childin entering it, the safety device will automatically function to preventcomplete closing of the door.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a view of the bolt in retracted position.

Figure 2 is a similar view with the boltin operative position.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the bolt.

Figure 4 is a side elevation.

Figure 5 is a front elevation showing the bolt as applied to therefrigerator.

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing the bolt support ing the door inopen position. 7

Referring particularly to Figures 5 and 6, a refrigerator having a side12 and a door 13 is illustrated with a single shelf 14. The inventionmay be attached to this single shelf or it may be duplicated on each andevery shelf.

Referring to Figure 1, a sleeve 15 carrying supporting plates 16slidably receives a bolt 17. The sleeve is attached to the side 12 ofthe refrigerator by screws 18 secured to the supporting plates 16. Acoil spring 19 mounted in the sleeve normally forces the bolt outwardlyfrom the sleeve, the bolt being restrained in its motion by a pin 20secured to the bolt and projecting through a slot 21 formed in thesleeve. A housing 23 secured to the wall of the sleeve supports a pin 22having a cap. 24. The pin 22 projects through a hole 25 in the sleeveUnited States P esto ice "extremely weak spring capable of simplypushing'the bolt forward, as the holding of the bolt in its operativeposition depends on the pin 22 so that the force exerted by the pin 20on the lug 27 need be but slight.

The operation of the safety device is obvious from the foregoing, theremoval of the shelf releasing the pin 20 from the lug 27 and permittingthe spring 19 to force the bolt forward to project beyond the door 12,as shown at 28 in Figure 6. The forward motion of the bolt is limited bythe action of the pin 29 in the slot 21 so there is no chance of thebolt being projected beyond the limits of the sleeve. Forward movementof the bolt permits the pin 22 to enter the sleeve behind the bolt, thuspreventing the return of the bolt to the sleeve. With the bolt projectedbeyond the forward edge 29 of the refrigerator wall 12, it is impossibleto completely close the door, thus any child who was within therefrigerator would not be trapped as the door could be opened from the.inside when it is not engaged with the latch 30.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety device for refrigerators having removable shelves and aswinging door, comprising a cylindrical housing secured to the side ofthe refrigerator and terminating in contact with the inner side of theswinging door when closed, said housingbeing closed at the end fartherfrom the door and formed with a longitudinal slot closed at each end andin that half of the housing having the open end and a centrally locatedhole communicating with the interior of said housing, a bolt of shorterlength than said housing slidable in said housing and adapted to projectthrough the open end of said housing, a pin extending from said bolt andthrough said closed slot in said longitudinal housing, the outer end ofsaid pin being bent downwardly at right angles to the longitudinal axisof the bolt, said pin moving with the bolt longitudinally of the housingwithin the length of the slot, a coil spring carried within the housingbetween the closed end of said housing and the sliding bolt, a

i cap located over the hole of said housing, said cap having a centrallylocated hole in line with the hole of said housing, a pin slidablymounted in said holes, a spring carried within said cap urging said pintoward the interior of said housing, said pin contacting said bolt whensaid bolt is in retracted position, said pin being projected by saidspring inwardly behind said bolt to prevent. the return of said boltwhen said bolt is in extended position, and means carriedby the shelf engaging said right angle bent pin to normally hold said bolt in retractedposition whereby said bolt will move to extended position beyond saidhousing upon the removal of the shelf and be locked in said position toprevent the complete closure of said door.

2. An attachment for the side wall of a refrigerator having a removableshelf and a swinging door, comprising a cylindrical housing closed atone end, a pair of flat bases secured to said cylindrical housing andformed with screw holes for attachment to the side wall of saidrefrigerator to bring the open end of the housing into contact with theinner side of the door when closed, said housing being formed with alongitudinal slot having closed ends and a centrally located hole, bothcommunicating with the interior of said housing, a bolt of shorterlength than said housing slidably mounted Within and adapted to beextended through the open end of said housing, a pin attached to saidbolt and extending through said longitudinal slot, said pin movable withsaid bolt and within the length of said slot, a second pin capable ofmoving through said hole into the interior of said housing, means fornormally urging said second pin toward the interior of said housing andin contact with said bolt, a coil spring carried between the .end ofsaid bolt and the closed end of said housing to normally urge said boltto extended position, and means carried by the removable shelf engagingthe pin extending through said longitudinal slot to normally hold saidbolt in retracted position, whereby the removal of said shelf willpermit the bolt to move to extended position and be locked therein bysaid hole-mountedtpin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS KentOct. 18, 1870 Dowman Dec. 14, 1897 Johnson Dec. 8, 1914 Canott et a1Apr. 9, 1929 Metzerott Oct. 14, 1941 Pisani Dec. 6, 1955

